


Fireside

by Obsessedwithfanfiction



Series: Candlelit Tales [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AU of my AU, Andreil are going on the run because Neil's half plant now, Bulletpointed fic, I'm Sorry, Less angsty but might be a superhero fic?, M/M, What am I doing, You need to read the first part of this series first, stop me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-20 16:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11924643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessedwithfanfiction/pseuds/Obsessedwithfanfiction
Summary: Neil Josten was dying of a terminal illness that should have killed him.Or, my answer to the question "What if he didn't die though?"





	1. The AU of my AU (part one)

**Author's Note:**

> READ THIS FIRST OR IT MIGHT NOT MAKE SENSE  
> Ok, ok so the lovely Dancyon asked me to write an AU of my AU, eg what would've happened if he miraculously didn't die. And I wrote a little of it in the comments and then it got totally stuck in my head  
> I realise I'm milking the fuck out of what was supposed to be a short drabble but um this is my life and these are my choices apparently  
> Here is the first bit because I was gonna write it all and then I saw the time. I hope this makes sense??

• 'Staring' Andrew whispers  
• Neil smiles, his eyes fluttering closed-  
• The Foxes, in their bleary grief soaked state don't react fast enough to the intruder who practically flies into the room, jabs a syringe into Neil's leg and pushes the plunger  
• In the next second the intruder is pinned against the wall by Matt's arm over his throat, his feet not even touching the floor (Matt + adrenaline is a sight to behold)   
• Doesn't matter though because Neil's eyes are reopening, colour coming back into his cheeks  
• His eyes lock onto Andrew's and Andrew feels hope lurch in his chest, the strongest thing he's ever felt in his life  
• And then Neil starts screaming   
• He sits bolt upright, arms wrapped around his middle, shuddering like he's having a seizure as his eyes roll back into his head but don't stop twitching in their sockets  
• 'What the fuck did you do? What the fuck did you do?!' Dan's yelling at the guy slowly turning purple under Matt's forearm   
• Neil's shoulders slam back on the bed, his torso straining upwards but his head and shoulders staying down resulting in his back bending in a way Andrew didn't know he was capable of  
• Then, just as suddenly as they started, the screams cease  
• Matt drops the man who lies gasping on the floor  
• 'Is he...?' Matt asks, his voice breaking  
• 'I saved his fucking life you assholes' says the intruder 'A cell regeneration formula we've been working on. It's still experimental but better than him being dead right?'   
• The intruder doesn't really have time to gain his breath back before Browning and two other agents are storming into the room and grabbing the intruder by both arms  
• ' Do you have any idea what you've done?!' Browning hisses. 'Nathaniel gave us his full story. The entire crime world will be after him now. Not to mention that serum has barely even passed testing on rats! For all we know, Nathaniel is about to start sprouting flowers or wings!'   
• 'It would take a lot to kill him now.' The intruder mutters back  
• 'What does that mean?' Andrew says, deadly calm, keeping his eyes on Neil  
• 'His cells can regenerate to a point. Probably only beheading would stop that.'  
• 'You made Neil into a superhero?' Nicky asks from his still stunned position on the floor  
• 'Take him away' Browning says in disgust. 'I will be back after I've dealt with this.'  
• As soon as Browning has left the room Neil's eyes snap open  
• 'Neil?' Abby asks, in a wobbly voice  
• 'I have to run. Now.' Is Neil's reply.   
• 'Neil!' comes the excited response, only Andrew actually listening to him. Neil is pulled into a huge huddle of hugs with even Kevin joining in  
• When they finally let him go Neil is smiling, but it's sad  
• He turns to Andrew and says in German  
• 'I promised I'd come back for you.' Andrew knows it's a question.   
• 'Kevin.' Is Andrew's response. Andrew doesn't break his promises.  
• 'Go with him.' Kevin speaks up, in English. Everyone turns to look at him in surprise. 'That's what you were talking about right? I can handle Riko on my own now. You had better make a deal with Ichirou before the end of next season though because there is only so many times I will fail my finals so that I can play on the same court as you again.'  
• ' What about Aaron?' Neil asks, even as the others start to speak up about where the Hell Neil is going (and Wymack starts frowning at Kevin for talking about sabotaging his finals)  
• 'Our deal is over.' Andrew doesn't want to talk about what happened outside Neil's room. Neil looks at him expectantly. 'You're not running alone.' Andrew says finally and Neil smiles like he's swallowed the sun.  
• 'Excuse us guys.' Neil turns back to the others. 'I need to teach Andrew how to break out of a federal facility.'  
• The Foxes don’t take too well to this idea  
• Nicky tries to go and get Allison and Renee and Aaron to tell them the good news that Neil’s not dead  
• (Yet)  
• He’s stopped by Andrew though  
• Neil gets out of bed with barely a stumble, ignoring Abby’s protests and trying and failing to ignore how much pain he is in + how weird he feels + how he’s basically floating high on how he’s not fucking dead (yet)  
• He forcibly does not think about how much pain he was in two minutes ago when it felt like every single bone in his body was breaking at once  
• Maybe they were  
• Neil’s only broken out of a FBI building once before, and it was back when he had his mother  
• Luckily, they’d done it by escaping through the garbage shoots that were too small for a normal sized adult, and Neil hadn’t really grown since then  
• Like. At all  
• Even though Andrew was shorter, there was no way he’d be able to escape the same way with those biceps Neil was definitely not staring at as they manhandled Nicky away from the door  
• ‘Guys I’m serious. You need to follow whatever the FBI says, so long as it’s confirmed by more than one agent. If any one agent tries to get one of you alone don’t fucking go with them. All take boxing lessons from Matt and maybe do a bit of sparring with Renee. Kevin, you especially. Get into the media, all of you, over my tragic death and I don’t know say Andrew’s gone to prison again-’  
• ‘Couldn’t we just say Andrew needed a mourning period coz you guys were so clooooooose?’ Nicky asks, waggling his eyebrows  
• Andrew looks at him  
• ‘Fair point well made’ Nicky concedes  
• ‘You’re telling us to follow the FBI but you think I’m letting you just go running off somewhere else?’ Wymack points out  
• ‘If I don’t get out of here now they will keep me as a lab rat for the rest of my life.’ Neil replies  
• ‘That’s the truth!’ Nicky pipes up  
• Everyone looks at him  
• ‘Excuse you- every superhero movie ever?’ Matt and Dan concede this as a point  
• (How did I not notice Matt and Dan have the same ring as Mum and Dad also where is the lie)  
• ‘Better a lab rat than beheaded somewhere where we’ll never know what happened’ Wymack points out bluntly as Abby hits him on the arm  
• ‘I don’t intend on letting that happen’ Neil says, and there’s something of Nathaniel in his grin, ‘I know where to get leverage against the Moriyamas. When I have it, I’ll cut a deal with Ichirou and come home’  
• ‘Just like that?’ Dan asks sceptically  
• ‘Just like that.’ Neil says, still grinning  
• Weeks, even days, after this moment, everyone in this room will wish they’d fought harder to make Neil stay in federal prison, something they never thought they’d say  
• As it is, Neil tells Andrew his plan instead  
• Neil will escape through the garbage chutes  
• Andrew will go back with the rest of the Foxes, like them saying that they have no recollection of anything past Neil’s “final” words to them all, and they all assume he’s dead  
• The FBI will probably not correct them of this assumption, and let them go without much further questioning (this will be helped along by the fact that Allison, Renee and Aaron actually think he’s dead so)  
• Andrew will get Neil’s binder, a few things and his own duffel bag, and meet Neil at the first location hidden in Neil’s coded binder  
• Which means of course Andrew’s got to figure out the code  
• Neil’s torn between whether he wants him to or not  
• Andrew does not like the plan, because it involves him trusting Neil not to run without him, but worse than that, trusting that the world will give Neil the chance to get to the location  
• If Neil’s not there, Andrew will never know if he a) decided to run without him, b) was captured by the FBI and is now a lab rat or c) was killed by the mob while trying to get to him  
• A) is the only option Andrew won’t forgive him for, and also the one he’d hope for the most if Neil didn’t turn up  
• To be continued


	2. The AU of my AU (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next bit??? I don't even know anymore I'm sorry

• Andrew goes with the plan anyway  
• The plan is, of course, said in German, because they’re fairly certain the FBI must have a camera in the room somewhere  
• Neil, feeling increasingly ridiculous but he’s been many people before Neil Josten and could probably win an Oscar at this point for his acting, holds his hand up towards Nicky  
• Nicky, as per their plan, pretends to go increasingly faint and fall over  
• The others hurry over to him and Nicky says ‘Just go with it’ quickly in English to those who aren’t bilingual enough for this spy shit  
• ‘I’m sorry I have to do this to all of you but it’ll be easier if you think I’m dead’ Neil says, and that’s so not a laugh he’s choking down at Matt’s exaggerated eye-roll back into his head or Andrew’s deadpan stare as he reclines himself into lying a good metre away from the others in the stereotypical corpse position  
• The Foxes all lie there, eyes closed, while Neil scrambles around and then wait another good ten minutes after he’s left before slowly ‘rousing’ and then calling for help  
• Renee knows in about two seconds that something’s up  
• Unsurprisingly, it’s painfully honest and uninterested in bullshit Wymack who’s the worst actor  
• Renee wasn’t sure until she talked to him, because she doesn’t know how Andrew reacts to the death of someone he actually gives a shit about, so who’s she to say he doesn’t seem to be acting right  
• But Wymack, Wymack is an embarrassment to the acting world  
• Also unsurprisingly, Nicky is the best actor (followed closely by Dan- Dan learnt to act to earn a wage but Nicky learnt to survive), which is why Aaron doesn’t clock on something’s up  
• Allison: ‘We saw this guy rush into Neil’s room but these people wouldn’t let us in; what happened?’  
• Nicky *in tears*: ‘He came and shot something into Neil’s leg- an adrenaline shot maybe? But it didn’t work- something happened, I can’t remember and then we woke up on the floor and now they’re saying we can’t even have his body because it’s evidence and it’s like what the fuck did they seriously just knock us out and steal his body? Is that even legal I just can’t oh my goodness-’  
• Andrew tells himself he’s not impressed by the fact Nicky’s testimony is making feelings stir in even his chest  
• Allison asserts that’s she’s going to get her family’s lawyers on this shit ASAP  
• Which actually really helps the FBI hurry them along back to Palmetto  
• They’re escorted by some FBI detail that will now be following them everywhere  
• Nicky spends a good ten minutes when they’re out of earshot screaming about how he’s a celebrity now  
• Erik is duly impressed (if a little scared for his boyfriend because Nicky won’t completely elaborate on WHY he suddenly has security detail)  
• Allison whaps both Matt and Dan on the arm when she finds out Neil’s not dead (yet) and then again when she finds out they agreed to let him run off into danger  
• Aaron bangs his head repeatedly on the wall  
• Andrew figures out the code in 24 hours with six very sweetened coffees and the reading glasses he swears don’t exist  
• He packs them as many clothes as he can fit, his knives, shampoo, Neil’s binder, a burner phone that he gives only Renee and Aaron the number to, cigarettes, a lighter, a pair of newly bought armbands for Neil, the coats Nicky got them for Christmas, all of Kevin’s vodka supply just because he can, some bandages, a couple of blankets and lots and lots of pairs of socks  
• He takes two trains and a bus to get to the first destination, and thinks he’s handling life on the run pretty well  
• It’s about then that he gets shot in the arm  
• The shooter is shot in the head before Andrew’s even registering the pain, but then boy oh boy is he registering the pain jesus fuck  
• Neil’s coming out of the darkness looking about as pale and sickly as Andrew now feels, and somehow manages to get them both to the car Neil’s hijacked and onto the road  
• The bullet went clean through, so Neil just tells him to slap a bandage on it, drink some vodka and then dye his hair  
• Neil’s already barely recognisable; green eyes, dark brown hair and new scars on his face and arms that Andrew’s really planning on looking at but instead he’s passing out in the passenger seat  
• When he wakes up, they’re still driving but the sun is shining on them, and Neil’s hands on the steering wheel are glowing  
• Andrew blinks but nope they’re still glowing  
• ‘Neil what the fuck’  
• ‘I think I photosynthesise now’ Neil seems very calm for someone who has very narrowly escaped death for like the sixth time this week and then become part plant  
• ‘Do you eat?’ Neil cocks a head to the side and thinks about it  
• ‘Eh. You took the most direct route there from Palmetto didn’t you?’  
• ‘Yes?’  
• ‘Ok they probably haven’t got a tracker on you then. You just weren’t subtle and they followed you easily. I’m assuming you left our phones at home?’  
• ‘Yes.’ Andrew’s coming to the dawning realisation he’s not handling life on the run very well  
• ‘If it wasn’t your life in danger this would be funny.’  
• ‘You stayed.’ Andrew says, eventually, and Neil grins, all lopsided and half curling down because he’s still fucking terrified but he’s realising that Andrew doesn’t care if Neil’s whole body lights up like a Christmas tree or they are on the run or if Andrew has to die his hair bright pink; so long as Neil keeps his promise  
• The scars that Neil received from Lola heal better than they did in canon but aren’t completely regenerated into smooth skin where the cells were completely dead, so the scars on his torso aren’t gone either  
• Andrew doesn’t want to think about what this means for Neil’s terminal illness; doesn’t know if Neil’s life has been saved or just extended; how many of his cells were dead when his body gave up and how many were just dying  
• ‘Do you know who the man who gave you the formula was?’  
• Neil doesn’t  
• ‘Where are we going?’  
• ‘Switzerland first while we learn Japanese. France would be better but you don’t speak French and it’s clear you’re going to have to do most of the speaking.’ Neil says, gesturing at his glowing hands with his chin  
• ‘You looked sick last night’  
• ‘I need light energy now’  
• ‘Do you know how quickly you regenerate yet?’  
• ‘Took me about four hours to regrow a toe’  
• ‘You cut off your own toe?’ Andrew’s not entirely sure whether he should be amazed by his idiocy or horrified. Neil shrugs. ‘Do you sleep now either?’  
• ‘Not as much’  
• ‘Do you want me to drive?’  
• Neil thinks about how often Andrew follows the speed limit. ‘Not really’  
• Instead Andrew dyes his hair (light brown) and puts coloured contacts in (also light brown) and then has to suffer the indignity of dyeing his eyebrows  
• Neil rejects both the armbands and the coats regretfully  
• Andrew knows he doesn’t want to say it so Andrew asks him if he needs to get rid of his armbands too  
• Neil suggests getting loads of colourful plastic bands around his arms instead, which Andrew does not realise is a serious suggestion until they’re at a gas station and Neil’s walking out with several hundred of them (and a pair of gloves)  
• In the 24 hours it took for Andrew to crack the code Neil; escaped from an FBI building, made it across two states without being followed by them, cut off his own toe, dyed his hair and put contacts in, took off all his bandages and burned them, acquired a gun, a set of lockpicks and new passports for both of them, watched his toe grow back and hotwired a car  
• Andrew assumes he used whatever money Mary had left in that first stash to pay for the passports  
• Neil had used what was in the stash, but it wasn’t money  
• Neil explains their new aliases are going to be the two sons of hippy parents who live exclusively out of a small caravan  
• ‘I’m not living in a caravan’  
• ‘Good because I don’t have one. We’re living on park benches instead’  
• Andrew is not even a little bit impressed  
• The whole way to Switzerland Neil coaches Andrew on improving his German accent and then acting  
• ‘I can fake being a smiling hippy Neil’  
• ‘You’re not faking it’  
• When they step off the plane into Switzerland, a full body shiver goes through Neil, and then Neil Josten gets buried behind his new personality  
• Andrew stands in dumbfounded shock as Neil turns back and grins at him, a grin of childish delight, and shouts out in German ‘brother we’re home!’ before basically racing off to find the exit in the carefree manner of someone who’s never had so much as a lollipop taken from them  
• Andrew is not taking to a life on the run well at all


End file.
